The Vulture King Read online

  Aram didn’t answer although he desperately wanted to accept the truth of her words. Ryu flapped his wings and soared into the air. Aram rose with his bird, into the clear brightness. Seeing the land stretching out in front of him, bathed in warm light, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Higher the bird flew, higher and higher, until the people below were insignificant specks. Light glinted off water in the far distance and Aram was pierced with sudden happiness. This was what the land should be, and he had helped to make it so. The magpie wheeled, cawing raucously, infected with the boy’s joy.

  A while later Ryu landed back on Aram’s shoulder. Bina was still sitting on the ground next to him, a soft smile curving her lips.

  “I think I can figure out a way to be happy,” said Aram. “It may take me a while to see things as clearly as you but I’m beginning to understand. Mostly I’m grateful for having a friend like you, who always knows just the right things to say.”

  Bina laughed and took his hand. “It’s not all going to be easy, Aram. You need to grieve your mother and deal with your guilt. But you can look up at the sun and think that it was all for something.”

  They sat for a while in the golden warmth and then Aram said, “I pitied the king you know, there at the end. He was rejected by the people who were supposed to love and protect him. He was raised by the cechua, you know, so how was he supposed to learn kindness?”

  “Nobody is born evil,” said Bina thoughtfully, “but there is always choice. You can’t excuse everything he did just because bad things happened to him. He punished every Veldera magician in this land for his parents’ failure, yet none of us turned into monsters.”

  Aram thought about this for a while. “But that’s where he got it all wrong you see. He thought his oppression was a punishment, but it was a gift.”

  “A gift?” laughed Bina, “Remind me never to ask you for presents.”

  Aram smiled back at her. “Nothing teaches you compassion like your own struggles. When everything comes easy, you have no empathy for others. The Veldera have learned a valuable lesson from the gifts bestowed by the vulture king.”

  Bina fell over backwards, clutching a hand to her chest. “And just like that the boy has become a philosopher. I thought you said I was the clever one, oh wise man of Alaiya.”

  They both turned their heads at the sound of approaching footsteps. Bayre strode up with a middle-aged Veldera in tow.

  “Aram, this is Dayal. Now that Ellery is no longer with us, he’s here to talk to you about your plans for the Veldera.”

  Aram wrinkled his brow. “Why would he need to talk to me about anything? Surely if he’s the new Veldera leader, he should be telling me what to do?”

  Dayal flushed red and cleared his throat. “Well…ahem…that’s the thing. I’m not the leader. Everyone seems to think that should be you.”

  Aram blinked rapidly, trying to process what the man was telling him. Bina snorted and said, “Have you lost your mind? Do you honestly think an eleven-year-old boy wants to be in charge? He’s a child, and a rather sulky one at that.”

  She threw Aram a wink. Dayal’s cheeks puffed out and Aram had to restrain an urge to burst out laughing. The man stuttered, “W…We…Well, he may be just a boy, but the radix chose him. And he did manage to defeat the vulture king, after all. We’ve been talking and we think the Veldera should journey to the Barrens.”

  “Why?” asked Bina, raising her eyebrows.

  “Well, so we can start a new settlement on the mountain where the radix is. The Saanen were our allies once and they came to our aid again. I’m sure we’d be welcome.”

  Aram imagined the remnants of the Veldera straggling off to the stronghold in the Barrens. They would isolate themselves from the outside world and what would happen then? The people of Alaiya had just been freed from the rule of a Veldera tyrant. Perhaps soon they would start to believe it a possibility that another magician would try to subjugate the land. What you didn’t know, you learned to fear. He got to his feet and faced Dayal, hands on his hips.

  “That is the absolute worst idea I have ever heard. The last thing the Veldera need is to retreat from the world. So, we’ll hide out in the Barrens and what will the kraal folk come to believe? They’ll remember they came to fight for us and then we abandoned them. They’ll wonder what secrets we’re hiding on the top of our mountain. Soon enough they’ll begin to fear us and then hate us.”

  Dayal stood with his mouth hanging open but a broad grin had spread across Bayre’s face. Bina stood, her blue eyes wide and head cocked to one side. She reminded him of a startled owl, thought Aram with great fondness.

  “What the Veldera will do, is settle in the kraals. We’ll spread out through Alaiya and use our power to help the land and its people heal.”

  “But…but…if we squander our power like that…well, you know what happens,” huffed Dayal.

  Aram said calmly, “You’re afraid you’ll die. But you see, as long as I’m alive, no Veldera needs to fear draining their internal radix ever again. I can keep them filled until it’s your natural time to leave this world.”

  Now all three of them, Bina, Bayre and Dayal stared at him, mouths hanging open. Then Bina began to clap her hands. “Well done, wise man of Alaiya.”

  She giggled and Bayre laughed with her, then said, “The boy is right, and his plan is exactly what the Veldera should do. We need to build trust in each other again. Aram, son, I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

  Dayal looked ready to argue but Bayre took his elbow firmly and led him off. Aram knew he could trust Bayre to organise everything exactly as it needed to be.

  Bina was still grinning, but her smile faded as she took in Aram’s worried expression. “Oh, what is it now, for heaven’s sake?”

  “I know you’re going to say I’m ridiculous, but I’m concerned about how much use the Veldera will be in the kraals. I mean, I’ve seen us use our powers to attack each other but I don’t see what good we’re going to do when we’re not fighting something. If Veldera are only any use as weapons, well then our powers are…wrong.”

  Bina sighed so hard he could swear he felt a faint breeze stir against his cheek.

  “Well, off the top of my head, here’s what I can come up with. Our Mechanni talent doesn’t only have to be used to throw knives around. It can be used to build houses, work with metal, move fallen trees if needed. Our ability to link with birds could help in hunting and tracking, even helping to keep the kraals safe. A bird on the wing can spot a threat from miles away.”

  “And what about my extra powers?” asked Aram, “What’s the use for them?”

  Bina bit her lip, her nose crinkling, but then her eyes brightened. “If a child is running a fever, you could use your Tempera power to draw the heat from his body. Or you could do the same for a burn. If you give me time, I’m sure I can come up with a thousand useful things you could do.”

  Very quietly, Aram asked, “And the ability to control thoughts? What good use should I put that skill to?”

  Bina held his gaze as she replied, “I think you know the answer to that. That power will always be a temptation, but I think you can be trusted with it. After all, if you can’t convince someone with your words or actions, what right do you have to impose your will on them?”

  Aram nodded. “Just because I can do something, doesn’t mean I should.”

  Bina shrugged her shoulders. “That’s not so different really from choices people make every day. I mean, just because I can kick you in the pants, doesn’t mean I should.”

  There was a heart’s beat of a pause and then Aram burst out laughing. Bina chimed in delightedly. They laughed so hard that Aram collapsed to the ground, holding on to his stomach. Bina crouched next to him, tears of mirth running down her face. Every time one of them got control of themselves, the other would let out a fresh howl and they’d both be set off again. Aram could feel tension rolling off him, worries dissipating on the breeze. Finally, he rolled over and sat
up. “So, do you often have to restrain yourself from kicking me in the pants?”

  Bina hiccupped. “Oh, it’s an endless struggle. You never know, the feeling might get the better of me one day.”

  She flashed her dimples at him, and Aram smiled back. She asked, “Which kraal will you go to? I’d better pick the same one because I honestly don’t know what you’d do without me. Probably just sit around and sulk about things all day long.”

  “I haven’t thought about it much, but I’ve gotten used to being on the move. I imagine I’d need to keep circulating through the kraals to top up empty radixes. It would get pretty lonely travelling all by myself. You think you might be able to keep up on those skinny legs of yours?”

  Bina growled and threw a mock punch at him which he dodged with ease.

  “Thank you for that graceless invitation. I’ll keep up and not only that, I’ll protect you from all the dangerous creatures out there.” She pulled her aardwolf claw necklace out from under her dress and waved it at him. “Bina, protector of the Radix’s chosen one. It’s got quite a ring to it.”

  She threw back her shoulders. “What we need now is a song,” she announced, “A victory march.”

  She began to stamp around him in a circle, swinging her arms. As her tuneless voice rose to the sky, Aram lay back and basked in the sun’s warmth. He had no idea what the world would become, but he believed, just in that moment, that even broken things could be beautiful. If a little frog could sing so nightingale sweet, and an orphan boy could find a family, everything was possible

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